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Midnight Hour RCS · Verified sender
Case study · SMS · RCS

From SMS to RCS.

How Rich Communication Services delivered a 42% revenue per message increase.

We built Midnight Hour's RCS program from scratch, phased it in against a clean SMS baseline, and matched every format to a job. Then we scaled it across campaigns and flows.

ClientMidnight Hour ChannelRCS, SMS ProgramCampaigns and flows RolloutThree phases
A Midnight Hour RCS card carousel being swiped in Messages
Revenue per message
+42%

More revenue per RCS message than SMS, across matched campaigns and automations.

Message conversion rate
+39%

0.79% on RCS against 0.57% on SMS.

Total orders
+38%

Normalized to the same send volume as SMS.

Revenue generated
+46%

More revenue than an equivalent SMS send, normalized to the same volume.

The opportunity01

Keep living with SMS, or step into what comes next.

As mobile messaging evolves, brands face a clear inflection point: keep relying on the limitations of SMS, or step into the next generation of customer communication. Midnight Hour chose the latter, embracing RCS to deliver a measurably better experience across their highest-value campaigns and flows.

RCS is the successor to SMS, built natively into Android messaging and now iOS. Unlike SMS, no app download is required. The experience is rich, branded, and interactive by default, inside the native messaging app.

  • Branded sender profiles
  • High-resolution images
  • Action buttons
  • Carousels
  • Verified delivery
  • No app download
The benefit you can see A verified, branded sender

Every message arrives from Midnight Hour's own profile: logo, name, "Verified by Trusted Partner", website and support details, not an anonymous short code. It raises the perceived value of every send.

Midnight Hour's verified RCS sender profile in Messages: logo, name, verified by trusted partner, website and support details
The strategy02

Phased, performance-first, built to justify the investment before scaling.

  1. PHASE 1

    Foundation and testing

    RCS launched to a controlled segment first, so deliverability, engagement and conversion could be watched closely and compared against the existing SMS baseline.

  2. PHASE 2

    Format strategy

    Three core formats, each chosen to match a campaign objective.

    • RCS Cards
    • Quick Replies
    • Card Carousels
  3. PHASE 3

    Full-list scaling

    Once the data validated the lift, RCS scaled across campaigns and automation flows: abandoned cart, post-purchase, welcome series, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Performance03

RCS against SMS, metric by metric.

Matched campaign and automation performance across the same measurement period.

Click-through rate 4.75% 4.62%
Orders per click 16.73% 12.31%
Message conversion rate 0.79% 0.57%
Revenue per message +42% Baseline
Key takeaway

RCS didn't just perform better per message. Normalized to the same send volume, it would have generated 46% more revenue and 38% more orders than an equivalent SMS send.

Why it worked04

The results were a function of strategy, not just the channel.

  • A phased rolloutPerformance data was clean and comparable before scaling, taking the guesswork out of the investment decision.
  • Format tied to objectiveCards for awareness and product storytelling. Quick Replies for conversion efficiency. Carousels for catalog depth.
  • Campaigns and flowsApplying RCS to both meant the lift compounded across the full messaging program, not just one-off sends.
  • Verified brandingRich, verified creative raised the perceived value of every message and strengthened trust with subscribers at scale.

It turns a message into an experience.

"Most brands are still treating their SMS list like a broadcast tower. RCS changes that dynamic entirely. It turns a message into an experience, and that shift in how customers engage is where the revenue opportunity lives. But the channel alone is not enough. We were intentional at every step because when you are introducing something new, the strategy behind it matters as much as the technology itself. Every format had a specific job. Cards for storytelling, carousels for discovery, quick replies for removing friction and zero-party data collection. When you match the format to the intent and let the data guide how you scale, the performance follows. That is exactly what we did for Midnight Hour."

Miranda MattsonDirector of Lifecycle & Retention Marketing, ATTN Agency
The formats

Every format had a job.

Three formats, each matched to a job. Screen recordings from Midnight Hour's live RCS program.

  • An RCS card from Midnight Hour, Just Dropped, tapped through to the Sword of Mercy Henley Top product page
    RCS Card

    Product-led campaigns where the image drives intent.

  • An RCS message, A Gift Guide for Dark Souls, with quick reply options and The Rebel selected, then a new message tapped through to the Black Friday sale
    Quick Replies

    Self-segment or act right from the message, no landing page needed.

  • An RCS card carousel from Midnight Hour being swiped: Black Friday Awakens, Dark New Arrivals, For Him, The Darkest Deals
    Card Carousel

    Collection launches and multi-product promotions, shoppable in the thread.

More work

More results like this.

What this means for your brand

RCS is no longer a future-facing bet.

It's a live, measurable channel with proven performance advantages when the right strategy is behind it. We've built the playbook, and we can show you exactly where the opportunity sits in your current flows and campaigns.

✓

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